A series of experiments for undergraduate laboratory courses (e.g., organic, polymer, inorganic) have been developed. These experiments focus on understanding the regiochemistry of the conducting polymer poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT). The substitution patterns in P3HTs control their conformational features, which, in turn, dictates the [pi]…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the development of preservice science teachers' knowledge structures in the domain of oxidation and reduction chemistry. Knowledge structures were elicited through video-recorded semi-structured interviews before and after the unit of instruction, and analyzed using a visual flow map representation.…

The influence of prior knowledge and cognitive development on the effectiveness of iconic representations in science visualizations was examined. Middle and high school students (N = 186) were given narrated visualizations of two chemistry topics: Kinetic Molecular Theory (Day 1) and Ideal Gas Laws (Day 2). For half of the visualizations, iconic…

Diffusion is a fundamental phenomenon that is vital in many chemical processes such as mass transport in living cells, corrosion, and separations. We describe a simple undergraduate-level experiment based on Weiner's Method to probe diffusion in a ternary aqueous mixture of small molecular-weight molecules. As an illustration, the experiment…

Many organic reactions are catalyzed by strong acids or bases that protonate or deprotonate neutral reactants leading to reactive cations or anions that proceed to products. In enzyme reactions, only weak acids and bases are available to hydrogen bond to reactants and to transfer protons in response to developing charges. Understanding this…

Developments in analytical chemistry were made using acoustically levitated small volumes of liquid to study enzyme reaction kinetics and by detecting volatile organic compounds in the gas phase using single-walled carbon nanotubes. Experience gained in engineering, electronics, automation, and software development from the design and…

This thesis presents the first steps toward a classification of non-positively curved cube complexes called state complexes. A "state complex" is a configuration space for a "reconfigurable system," i.e., an abstract system in which local movements occur in some discrete manner. Reconfigurable systems can be used to describe, for example,…

The field of ultra-cold atoms, since the achievement of Bose-Einstein Condensation (Anderson et al., 1995; Davis et al., 1995; Bradley et al., 1995), have seen an immensely growing interest over the past decade. With the creation of optical lattices, new possibilities of studying some of the widely used models in condensed matter have opened up.…

Separations have played a major role in the history of chemical engineering and will continue to be important. Since separations have always been a major cost item in the process industries, they have always been a critical key to successful commercialization. First, while reviewing the history of separation processes we will observe that many…

In this article, the authors examine the use of language in debating evolution, and suggest careful choice of the terms by which people describe both themselves and their opponents. Present-day evolution science is solidly based on fact, and is as far advanced from Charles Darwin's original theory as present-day chemistry is from Dalton's atomic…

A classroom activity is presented in which students are challenged to find matches between the United States two-letter postal abbreviations for states and chemical element symbols. The activity aims to lessen negative apprehensions students might have when the periodic table of the elements with its more than 100 combinations of letters is first…

The focus of this study is students' learning with a Connected Chemistry unit, CC1 (denotes Connected Chemistry, chapter 1), a computer-based environment for learning the topics of gas laws and kinetic molecular theory in chemistry (Levy and Wilensky 2009). An investigation was conducted into high-school students' learning with Connected…

Instructions are given for building physical scale models of ordered structures of B-form DNA, protein [alpha]-helix, and parallel and antiparallel protein [beta]-pleated sheets made from colored computer printouts designed for transparency film sheets. Cut-outs from these sheets are easily assembled. Conventional color coding for atoms are used…

The conversion of chemical energy entirely into thermal energy by Bunsen burners and into thermal energy and electrical energy by fuel cells of varying efficiencies illustrates different paths by which a chemical reaction can occur. Using the efficiency of producing electrical energy as a path label allows all of the energy-related quantities to…

In our focus on material that must be covered in a content-rich course such as first-year chemistry, we often neglect the development of other essential skills such as reading, writing, and critical thinking. The primary research literature summary assignment described attempts to address this issue. The purpose of the assignment is to introduce…